European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - January 15, 1992, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Pago 1 breaking the barriers wounded persian Gulf War vets fight Back through sports by Bill Clapper Erik Tate never liked Snow and had never considered skiing. After he lost his left log in the persian Gulf War he thought he d never again participate in sports a and certainly not skiing but after spending a week with four other disabled Gull War veterans learning to use adaptive ski techniques at Breckenridge colo., tale is a skier Quot i actually Hale cold weather and Snow Quot said the Marine corps Reserve Lance Corporal Quot but this is fun in a enjoying it i spent months lying Flat on my Back and it s wonderful to do something  Tate from Reston awas in a Convoy caught in a Sand storm with no visibility another truck slammed into Tate s vehicle causing a Gas tank explosion. Tate sult ered Burns Over 65 percent of his body and lost a leg he came to Breckenridge last month for the National handicapped sports nos ski spectacular an annual event that draws nearly 200 people who want to be taught to ski or ski Betler. The five Gulf vets got their instruction from disabled Vietnam War veterans Quot this is a great event for rehabilitation Quot said Jim Mayer coordinator of the vets teaching vets program Quot it s designed for first time disabled skiers skiing itself gives them total Freedom Quot he said. Quot once they learn they can go anywhere on the Mountain without anybody s help at this time so soon alter their injuries it s so important to get them to do things your mind tells you that you should t be Able to do this or that but you do it and that fuels great Quot Mayer of Silver Spring mys staff assistant to the director of tie rehabilitation research and development service for the department of veterans affairs m Washington Mayer lost both legs in Vietnam and found the most Dif Libutt adjustment was re entering mainstream life he wants to ease that transition for tie guff  he and Bob Moran another disabled Vietnam War vet founded a 1 7-Mornber american Rod Cross Volunteer suit poit group at Waller Reed army medical Center the group primarily Vietnam War vels anti Ali or spouses assists newly disabled troops in their recovery one method is getting the veterans involved with National Sandira ipod spoils programs including skiing we Start talking to the a heels As soon As possible sometimes within hours of Arving at Walter Reed Mayer said Quot we visit talk with the Larn Ilies help out wherever we can Quot the group has helped 70 Gull veterans including the live who went to Breckenridge Quot to try to get them Back to Normal lives As quickly As  said Mayer and with these Guys i never saw the emotional thing or tool sorry Tor me Atli tudo they have been positive from Day one Tate an Ottimer Loi the Lair tax county police department and a decent basketball player Belore ins injury took to skiing in a big Way Quot for the first year i want to stay with it As a Hobby tie said Quot then maybe i la consider racing right now i m learning and it s fun racing is mom stressful with the training and coach and All i ust want to have Tun Tate Jil Ayed Slang safety at North. Am Lina state before Luc Law Enlo Ici intent earner for a amps Bill Clopper Erik Tate works his sled downhill with the help of an instructor. Mike Burgess gets help from disabled vets Bill Denby Center and Kirk Bauer. For a amps Bill Clapper Tate is most comfortable in a Mono ski. A special sled which allows him to sit Over one ski and use outriggers attached to his arms for balance and control the Spoo Kiest thing is to look up the Lull alter you be come Down and say. I did that i skied Down that full before his Gulf Call up. Tate was a Patroi car  now tie works in the department computer room for Jay Humphries the sports program was a Way to recapture an important part of his life i to been skiing since i was 10, and 1 he first thing in my nun i after i got Hurt was that i d never ski again Humphries. 21. Of Potomac my was an army scout protecting kurdish rebels after the cease fire on May 6 he stepped on a mine and subsequently lost both logs when i was in Walter Reed people came in to talk with me Jim Mayer told me about nos. But i never realized in was so big Quot said Humphries Quot it s Good to see a lot of people in the same situation As you Are. And How they Deal with it. It makes me realize i m riot alone i can still have fun skiing even though something bad happened it s Good for your head Quot Humphries plans to return to  next semester and become involved with the research and manufacture of prosthetic devices he spent a year at the University of Colorado Boulder Belore entering the service Mike Burgess 21 of Toledo Ohio was not a skier Belom his Breckenridge Seq Onmi. A or s. Been fun and it s made me realize i have to re. I u p Burgess an infantry medic stepped on a mine m saudi Arabia after the cease fire losing his right leg and h g toe of his left foot. As Pari of the vets teaching vets program. R a a used one ski and outriggers to negotiate Brock Miledge s beginners slopes. Quot it s a lot harder than i Iho Ughi a it said after his third Day on one ski. At Home he my weights plays Pool and rides a bicycle. I want to to bungee Cord lumping  Burgess said hey h Van do this t can do  Burgess will enter Toledo University next tall to Huey physical therapy. Quot i want to work with disabled kids he said. Quot i see people Here a lot worse off than i am get i think i can help Quot Joe Hartley was in the Gulf five Days when an Lugi scud missile slammed into his Barracks at Dhah Iun thu missile killed 28 soldiers Hartley a 23-year-old army reservist from Austin Texas lost his left Arm and suffered jaw and Mouth injuries i Felt a sense of Freedom and once i got going it via t much different than water skiing Quot he said of his experience on he slopes Quot being Able to do tins Ai b u e others doing it gave me Confidence i Don t tool As Quot i an outcast Hartley has been discharged and will move but a 1 exas in february where he will enter the Umpei Central Texas to study computer programming for special forces sgt Todd Reed coming Back to skiing without a left foot was just another Challenge. He Learned to ski both Alpine and Cross country during his special forces training and is eager to take his skiing to another level a i want to get involved with Tho u s disabled ski team Quot said the 30-year old Reed who was running ski racing Gates the third Day at Breckenridge. "1 just Don t know it i la Ever get Good enough those Guys Are just unbelievable skiers Quot the  disabled ski team is considered the Best in the world and at fast year s world championships won twice As May medals As the second place team because of his injury. Reed s 12-year military career will soon end. He plans to enrol in the Phoenix police Academy this Spring. Quot i got a lot of questions about what happened sometimes it gets a Little tiresome but it beats other wars where nobody cared. Everyone i be met has been supportive and encouraging Quot what happened to me and to the Ottier Guys really stunk. But i knew the dangers the risks i was doing my  Reed said of the mine explosion that maimed him while on patrol in Southern Turkey Quot it s life you live it it s a drag that i stepped or. A mine and got my foot blown off but the experiences i be had and the incredibly Bravo people i be met compensate Lor at Load a Juri of it Clapper is .1 freelance Amor irom Vienna a i ii tracing the cause of phantom Quot pain the stars and stripes by Sandra Blakeslee the new York times scientists believe they have discovered the cause of Quot phantom pain Tho mysterious condition that can leave amputees feeling agonizing discomfort in limbs that have been removed Lor decades new research suggests that the problem May occur when one of the body s own chemicals damages certain nerve cells in the spinal void if the finding holds up solent Isle say they May also explain other kinds of so called abnormal pain that persists months years and even decades after an Mury has healed. Scientists also Hope the work will Lead to drugs to ease abnormal pain or pie vol it m the first place the condition afflicts tens of thousands of people for them. A slight touch or Breeze across the skin can be agonizing aspirin codeine or even morphine Are useless. The finding from experiments Witti animals was reported in november at the society for neuroscience meeting in new Orleans the work gives researchers new ideas for treating abnormal pain in people including drugs that Block the chemical said or Gary Bennett a pain expert at the neurobiology and Anaesthesiology Branch of the National Institute of dental research in Bethesda my clinical trials of such drugs should begin in 1992 he said. Quot the animal research is very interesting Quot said or John Griffin a neurology professor at Iho Johns Hopkins University school of Medicine in Baltimore Quot an Oien and very important question in our Field is. At what level is the pain generated Quot normally when the body is injured pain fibres in the skin muscle or Bone arc activated Send signals to nerves that lie outside the spinal Cord he said the nerves called primary a Ferents relay the signals into the spinal Cord where Ottier nerves carry the impulses up to the brain where pain is perceived the brain can try to ignore the pain or direct the body to take actions like rubbing a sore muscle Bennett said but once an injury heals he said the pain stops but Lor some people the pain never goes away even though its cause is gone Bennett said they describe it Many ways As a burning sensation in the stun a deep aching pain in muscle or Bene or As flashes of painful ele it  scr y s he said but they All have be Quot ii n a j a i Anil just Ommon each i 1 f damage Horn trauma disease of surgery the initial a july can be As seemingly innocuous As a Bee sting of sprained ankle tie said or As Sevene As a limb amputation of Mastectomy about 5 percent of people with Chrome diabetes complain hat their Teel bum although there is no apparent nerve damage in then extremities. Gulfin said some cannot Sloop because the pain is so bad sixty percent of aids patients Suiter peripheral nerve pains. Grilling said although again the nerves look Rounel some of these patients cannot walk because their feet feel like they re on lire he said Aboul 10 Pei cent of people who Are infected with the herpes zoster virus and develop a rash called shingles experience abnormal pain Long alter the infection has gone grilling said Pam piers Isle in skin areas when the Rasli erupted tie said. Some patients develop abrupt stabbing sensations around the Eye trauma victims can also exp Cionco abnormal pain Allie an injury heals Bennett said while Many ampules experience so called phantom sensations Asil an Arm or leg were still attached to their bodies to said Aboul 10 percent of amputees develop phantom pain that lasts Many years the same is True for some Mastectomy patients he said even innocuous injuries like an ankle sprain can Lead to years of abnormal Pam Bennett said one Man had stabbing pain Lor years after a single Bee sting he said abnormal pain is crazy pain Bennett said doctors have tried Many drugs fir said including .  and Oji Mios none works very Well surgeons sometimes try to disrupt pain Patti ways by severing Orlam noises in the spinal Cord or brain he said Agam with limited Success until 15 years ago he added Many people chose Tiei ital Lobotomy of to get rid of the  the suicide Rale among such patients is very High Fie said two years ago Bennett Ami or Xie i Kuan a visiting scientist from the chinese Academy of medical sciences m Beijing accidentally it discovered the fir is animal Modi i pm abnormal pain they Nad constricted the Large sciatic nerve in the legs of rats and mend that Long alter the injury had healed the rat legs remained i of Jerra a 11� hive to or at and cold t urn if j  a no f or  u a. T in win  Ijler i  r i Amy i a j. Ii i. I m or in n j t. H i Quot ,.1 a i. A Quot Nai Ter a i ,1 1 a i i ii i f a a i i it a m 1. I wednesday. 15, 1992 the bears and stripes Page 15